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WhatsApp Business is already four years underway with facilitating communication between businesses and customers. And each year the Meta-owned platform releases new features that improve these lines of communication. The latest feature released it the WhatsApp Yellow Pages.
As a result of a successful pilot in Brazil, users across Brazil, UK, Indonesia, Colombia and Mexico will be able to search for products and business accounts in a WhatsApp Business directory.
So what is this feature all about? How will it benefit your business? And how can you set it up? Read on and we’ll explain everything you need to know about the WhatsApp Business yellow pages.
What are the WhatsApp yellow pages?
With over 175 million people using WhatsApp Business to message business accounts every day, Meta highly feels the need to keep optimizing its services to meet both business and customer needs.
Hence the launch of WhatsApp Business Yellow Pages (a.k.a. the WhatsApp Business directory). Because of this feature, users can now browse by business category (for instance Food or Travel) or directly search for companies that are available on the platform. Making it a lot easier for people to find the service or product that they need and the business they want to get in touch with.
This is equally beneficial for businesses. Companies are easier to reach for prospects and customers. Because of the directory, local customers are connected faster to businesses that they otherwise wouldn’t come in contact with. And also important to note is that there are currently no paid advertisements related to this feature. Ensuring free use for businesses and a chance at equal exposure. Because all businesses on the platform will show up in the directory, this results in small and large businesses being able to attract customers’ attention.
End-to-end shopping experiences in the same chat
“The ultimate goal here is to make it so you can find, message and buy from a business all in the same WhatsApp chat.”
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO Meta
The WhatsApp Yellow Page feature is yet another step in providing full e-commerce experiences on the WhatsApp platform. It spurs end-to-end shopping journeys that never have to leave the platform. After its pilot in Brazil, it will now be rolled out for Android and iOS in the UK, Indonesia, Colombia and Mexico. And hopefully soon worldwide too!
Tip: Not only did WhatsApp Business launch the directory it also added another e-commerce-focused feature, the in-app shopping carts. So what else lies ahead? Meta created a fun video on the future of WhatsApp Business and messaging apps. Watch it here.
How to apply for the WhatsApp Business directory
Are you located in the countries mentioned above? Then let’s get started straight away with the first step in ensuring your business is featured in the yellow pages.
To register for the yellow pages you need these WhatsApp Business basics:
- A business incorporated in [your country] National Registry of Legal Entities
- A WhatsApp Business account with a phone number that starts with your country code
- For Brazil a device with Android OS, for other countries OS and Android are ok
Have you checked these boxes? Then open WhatsApp Business and we’ll walk you through the next steps.
1. Tap on the triple dots and select Business Tools.
2. Select ‘Business Directory’ at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap ‘Get Started’, then read through the steps and tap Next.
4. Edit the business profile and tap Next.
The WhatsApp yellow pages profile for the organisation will display a profile image, availability (open/closed) based on business hours, estimated distance from the user’s location, business subcategory, and address.
Remember: Setting up your business profile is an important step. Because it's the first thing prospects will see. So don’t forget to set the privacy setting to ’Everyone’ **for the company profile picture.
5. Enter a valid VAT number and submit your application!
A successful application for the WhatsApp Business Yellow Pages
After going through the five steps WhatsApp will send a notification. This means that your application is now being reviewed.
Once the review is done you’ll receive a notification again. When your application is successful your business will be indexed immediately and made visible! If more info is required before the business can be submitted to the WhatsApp Business directory, WhatsApp will let you know.
Trick: From your WhatsApp Business profile people can go to ‘See more businesses like this’ and discover similar organisations. This means that from other profiles prospects might also land on your profile. And the more information you list on your profile, the simpler it is for people to see in one glance what the business is all about.
Tip: Or are you waiting for the feature to roll out worldwide because your business is not located in the countries mentioned above? Check out all news on the latest features here.
How customers find businesses on the WhatsApp yellow pages
So how do prospects and customers land on your business profile? From the user’s end, they can search the directory, following these steps:
1. They will tap on the text chat button in the bottom right corner.
2. Select ’Businesses nearby’.
3. Decide between these two options:
- Share your current location. WhatsApp states that in order to protect user privacy that businesses featured in the directory and WhatsApp will not be able to see these locations.
- Select a neighbourhood. This is the easiest way for people to find a business! As they can just pick a neighbourhood from the list and businesses will pop up.
4. Choose a business category.
5. Select a business from the list.
To further filter down all the search results that come up people can scroll down to ‘Refine results’. At the bottom of the list. Here it’s possible to choose a business subcategory.
Join the WhatsApp Yellow Pages
Browsing and finding a product or service, buying, paying and receiving order updates all via the same social media platform is becoming reality. As Meta is releasing features that make end-to-end shopping possible on WhatsApp Business. Customers can chat with friends and family while shopping around.
And your business wants to be a part o that end-to-end shopping experience of course. So join the WhatsApp Business directory and ensure that prospects and customers alike know where to find you.
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